Clutch plate hub



I July 24, 1951 D. KELLEHER 2,561,800

CLUTCH PLATE HUB Filed May 8, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 wxw fig. 5

- IN V EN TOR.

DANIEL KELLEHER MW rfimimid ATTORNEYS July 24, 1951 D. KELLEHER 2,551,300

CLUTCH PLATE HUB Filed May 8, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 x} 1H 4 I l 4 5 HIIE I F 5 2 I H Ill!- /////////Al IZ INVENTOR.

DANIEL KELLEHER mq fimw ATTORNEYS Patented July 24, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE CLUTCH PLATE HUB Daniel Kelleher, Berea, Ohio, assignor to Ira Saks, Cleveland, Ohio Application" May s, 1945, Serial No. 592,688

cludes a flange carried by such hub, the extent and form of which will vary depending on the manner in which the friction disc or discs that form another essential element of the clutch are mounted on the hub element.

1 Claim. (Cl. 28752) While it would be possible to make the hub element, including the hub proper and the flange mounted thereon, in the form of a unitary piece, such construction would obviously be impractical and accordingly, as illustrated for example in U. S. Patent No. 2,294,638 to E. V. J. Tower, dated September 1, 1942, it has heretofore been usual to form the hub proper with a polygonally shaped outer surface, e. g. six-sided or eightsided, and then press fit thereon a stamped-out flange having a central opening of corresponding polygonal form. However, due to the very considerable circumferential stress imposed upon the connection thus provided between the hub and flange when the clutch in operation is required to pick up a heavy load, this manner of mounting the flange on the hub has led to dim:- culty since the polygonal faces on the hub will of course have a camming action on the opening in the flange and so tend to distort the latter and even entirely break the connection between the two parts.

One principal object of the present invention accordingly is to provide in a hub element of the general type described, 1. e. comprising a hub proper and a flange mounted thereon, a superior type of connection comprising interlocking lands and recesses in place of such a polygonally shaped connection. At the same time it is rendered possible to make the hub proper from cylindrical stock instead of from polygonal stock as heretofore has been necessary. The invention further comprehends an improved form of tool on the order of a breaching tool whereby lands suitable for the purpose in question may be quickly and inexpensively formed on such a hub.

To the accomplishment of the foregoin and related ends, said invention, then,consists of the particu-,:

means hereinafter fully described and larly pointed out in the claim.

The annexed drawings and the following description set forth in detail one method and one product exemplifying the invention,such disclosed procedure and product constituting, however, but one of various applications of the principle of the invention.

In said annexed drawings:

Fig. l is a central sectional view of an apparatu's including the present improved form of breaching tool for making hubs with circumferentially spaced arcuate lands;

Fig. 2 is a section of a portion of such apparatus taken at right angles to the plane of Fig. 1, as indicated by the line 2-2 thereon;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view of the upper por-l tion of the apparatus as viewed from the plane indicated by the line 3-4, Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of another portion of the apparatus;

Fig. 5 is a plan view and Fig. 6 a side elevation of the hub proper, at a stage in the manufacture thereof preliminary to the operation of the foregoing apparatus thereon;

Fig- '7 is a plan view of such hub proper sim ilar to that of Fig. 5 and Fig. 8 a side elevation thereof similar. to that of Fig. 6 showing the same after such operation has been completed;

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the assembled hub element including the hub proper and flange interlocked therewith; and i Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the same, the plane of the section being indicated by the line Ill-40, Fig. 9.

Inasmuch as the method of making the hub proper can be best explained afteridescribing the construction of'such hub and of the hub element as a whole, the parts in question will be described first. Referring to Figs. 9 and 10, which illustrate the assembled hub element, the latter will be seen to comprise as one principal part an annular member I which constitutes the hub proper and a separate flange member 2 that extends radially therefrom. Member I is provided with a plurality of inwardly directed splines 3 which are designed to fit, as previously stated, with corresponding splines on the driven shaft to which the clutch as a whole is attached. Said member is also formed adjacent one end with a radially thickened portion 4 on which is located a series (three as shown) of circumferentially spaced arcuate lands 5. These are best shown in Figs. 7 and 8 from which it will be seen that such lands are substantially equal in extent to the intermediate recesses which separate them. The manner in which the foregoing; hub proper, and particularly the arcuate the previously cited patent. Said flange member H also'has acentral opening 7 of a diameter such as to closely fit the enlarged end 4 of hub memberwl such opening being further formed with a series of recesses 8 complementary to the lands on said hub member. The flange will bedesirably stamped from sheet metal of the-proper. thickness. preferably equal to the axial width of such arcuate lands 5 as shown, and exactly to the form just" described, and is then ready to be assembled on the hub member by being. press fitted over the enlarged end thereof with: such, recesses 8 in registerwith the lands 5:; The latter; itv willbe I seen, provide positiveinterlocking means between the, two parts" comprising the hub element, and will resist much more eliectively' thanthe polygonal type of connection heretofore employed. the relative turning or twisting strains to which the hub element. thus assembled. is subjected. when muse.

In order further to securethefiange to the hub the parts may be staked together" as by striking up the bottoms oi'recesses' 8 in the flange at points ll into forceful engagement with the opconcave face of the latter.

succeeding toothis broader, extending an equal distance beyond the preceding one, the last such I posed lands then; the parts will be brazed or copper welded alongthe line of. juncture therebe tween. To facilitate proper placement of the flange on the hub circumferentially spaced notches l2 are formed in the periphery of the flange, these being so locatedthat when brought into engagement with suitable guide pins the-recesses 8' will coincide'inr location with lands 5 on the hub.

In the. intermediate form of hub: member I illustrated in Figs. 5- "a'nd 6, said member will be seen to be identical with the finished form just described except: that its enlarged'end 4 is formed with a'cornpletely encircling rib lmit being from such rib that the lands l are fashioned by means of the apparatus illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4 inc. As previously indicated, the hub member in the form shown in Figs. '5 and'fi' may" be turned directly from cylindrical or rod stock which needs be of a diameter only slightly greater than that of suchrib I03 Such turning operation may be rapidly performed on an automatic screw machine with a minimum waste of metal, while the subsequent operations of boring the central openin'g in the "member and forming the splines 3 will be carried out in the usual manner.

' The apparatus employed in forming the air-- cumferentially spaced arcuate lands on the hub memb'er l comprises essentially a bed l5 on which the work-piece,specifically the hub member in the form illustrated in Figs. 5 and. dis suitably supported, and a; reciprocable head" I 6 which carries 'a special tool II -0n the order of a broachi'ng tool that is adapted to cut away those portions onall y formed bars.

of rib Ill-which correspond with the recesses between the lands 5 in the finished hub member.

While being operated on, the work-piece rests on an interchangeable pedestal support it that rises centrally from bed It and is provided at its upper end with a centering stud l9 adapted to fit the bore or the workpiece so as to center the same on such support with the rib Ill projecting 4 beyond the sides of the latter. It will be understood that different supports and studs corresponding with the differentsizes of work-piece will be used.

Tool I'l comprises in effect three separate tools 20 each constituting in effect a separate broach and each will be seen to comprise a body with a concave. face formed w'ith a pluralityjof transverse undercut arcuate teeth 2|. Furthermore, as best shown in Fig. 1, such teeth areof suc cessively increasing transverse extent from the outerend to the base of the tool and are symmetrical with respect to a median line on the In other words, the first such tooth 2! is quite narrow, while each H in proper alignment with the work-piece on its support I8. I

A transverse slot 22 isprovided in the base of tool I] to provideclearance space for the chips produced by the cutting action of the teeth 2 I. A

; shaving tool 23is also desirably interposed between tool I! and the reciprocable head 56, such shaving tool having a bore 24 that conforms exactly with the external shape which it is desiredthe hub should have, and so be effective when the latter is forced therethrough, following its passage through the tool, to" give a smooth finished surface to the lands 5 and intermediate recesses 4 on said hub.

A convenient mode of operation will be to first force the hub in its intermediate form through the tool IT until it passes the cutting teethZl and just enters-the bore of cutting tool 23. Then when the next succeeding 'hub is forced through the cutting tool. such first hub. will: be pushed therebythrough the shaving tool. In order that the hub may be properly supported on pedestal. l8. 7 I the. upper portion of the latter willbe preferably fluted so astoprovide laterally projecting ribsv l8 that correspond in shape. and: location with the lands 5. to be formed on the hub.

' From the foregoing description it will be seen that a hub element produced which is much stronger and more resistant to thestrains imposed thereon in. use than has heretofore been believed possible. At the same time such improved element, and more especially the hub.

member proper, lends itself to a simplified and much more ,efficient manufacturing procedure with the further economy attendant upon the userof' cylindrical or rod stock in place of polyg Finally, by meansof the novel construction of broaching tool, the-final operation in forming the circumferentiallyspaced lands on the hub member is rendered exceedingly simple and economical.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention may be employed instead of the one explained, change being made as regards the product and method herein disclosed, provided the step or steps stated by the following claim or" the equivalent or such stated: step or. steps be employed.

5 I therefore particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention: 1 A hub elementfor a clutch plate comprising a hub and a plate-actuating flange mounted thereon, said hub being formed with a series of circumferentially spaced arcuate lands, the ends of which lie in radial planes through the central axis: of said. hub, andintermediate recesses substantially equal in extent to such lands, and said flange having a central opening formed with recesses and lands respectively complementary to the lands and recesses on said hub and having a close fit thereover, of such magnitude that said flange is rotatively interlocked with said hub without circumferential play, suc'h arcuate lands being of axial extent at least as great as the thickness of said flange, said hub and said flange being provided with radially overlapping portions whereby said hub and flange are positively locked relative to one another in a direction longitudinal 20 of their common axis.

, DANIEL KELLEHER.

6 1 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 679,060 McCaffrey July 23, 1901 899,822 Ast Sept. 29, 1908 1,477,266 Jenking Dec. 11, 1923 1,492,862 Smith May 6, 1924 1,565,722 Evans Dec. 15, 1925 1,579,359 Hallenbeck s Apr. 6, 1926 1,601,235 Bullard Jr. et al. Sept. 28, 1926 1,771,349 Puffer July 22, 1930 1,804,878 Jones May 12,1931 1,842,117 Renshaw Jan. 19, 1932 1,928,463 Richardson et al. Sept. 26, 1933 2,070,892 Gamble Feb. 16, 1937 2,197,039 Gottlieb Apr. 16. 1940 2,294,638 Tower Sept. 1, 1942 

